Poor customer service and even worse technical support

Posts: 2 · New Forum Member Joined: Sep 28, 2007 Posts: 2

Signed up June 21st and have spent hours upon hours of my time trying to get this to work. Each time they promise me credits for service I wasn't able to use. To date they have charged me over $200 for monthly service and equipment.

I have not used this service at all.

Each time I try and cancel, they make more promises and can't resolve my problem. They send me new equipment for free (yet charge me $54 for it)

Today, I found out in five minutes why it wouldn't work (after the 30 minute hold time, of course). I have to cancel my landline first and it would work. Why didn't they tell me that on June 26th when I called in?? I would have cancelled Vonage then and there. They had plenty of opportunity to tell me this, but never did.

Now, I have to pay a $40 cancellation fee for a total of $240 paid out. The sick thing is; the $240 is worth it to make this headache go away.

Absolutely, without a doubt, the worst phone support experience I've ever had.

Nothing but lies from the reps. They won't escalate calls to supervisors beyond the floor manager. They spit out policies and follow procedures like a trained monkey or programmed robot.

I've contacted my Credit Union to stop any future charges and began the proceeding to get my money back.

It's completely despicable how they run this company. They promise the world just to get you past the 30 days and then your stuck.

Yet, somehow it's my fault for not cancelling in a timely manner.

Hope you sleep well Kieth badge number: 26968 (it's probably fake)

Posts: 292 · Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2007 1:21 pm Post subject:

You DO NOT have to cancel landline before Vonage. You can keep your landline and have Vonage too. I had both for 5 days before number was ported to Vonage. (You get a virtual number that you can use before number is ported)
If you are hooking up to existing home phone jacks, you must disconnect the incoming wiring before hooking up Vonage to existing wiring.
Most Vonage problems are caused by poor nternet connectivity.

Posts: 8 · Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2007 1:41 pm Post subject:

Vonage is a VOIP provider piggy backing on top on an existing Broadband provider.Other than having the ability to have your existing number "ported" to Vonage" there is no need to disconnect your existing landline phone with your current RBOC.

When you signed up with Vonage, you already signed up with an signed number that you have chosen for the area code. This number can act as a temporary one until your existing number is ported if you chose to do so. If not, that will be your second number.

Based on your posting, it is unfortunate that you are not familiar with the technology and how it can supplement your existing landline phone. It also unfortunate that Vonage is targeting mass consumer that have little or no knowledge how Vonage differs from an actual land line provider.

As with many other service oriented companies in the U.S., their customer service and technical support personnels are inundated with client calls and queries because of poor training, outsourced services, human resource shortage and low morale. Why you asked? Firms are no longer hire technical individuals but instead hire someone that can simply take calls and complete the calls as quickly as possible. And as long as the ASA (industry speak for the call to answer ratio) ratio is within the acceptable limit, everybody is happy, but not the customers. Who cares whether the problem is actually is resolved. It is how fast you can get rid of them. If the tech analyst actually try to resolve an issue he or she would be penalized for not taking enough calls or quota. It comes down whether the action of the support personnel can be measured. Helping you resolve a persistent issue is not on anyone's "radar" and very hard to measure. When it comes to work performance evaluation, the person who can answer the calls and "resolve" them quickest gets the bonus.

In case of Vonage, the problem is due to low morale and overworked first and second level Tech. The third level and their supervisors are busy writing up reports for managements and steering committees.

If they lies, the reps are not tech at all. They are either connected to sales, disguised as relationship managers, account specialists and the likes. Most likely your call never get past the first level help desk and the supervisors are so demoralized, that they don't give a damn what their reps say as long as they "look good."

Customer? What customer? They are just a bunch of cry babies, full of insults and derogatory remarks that ruins your day and cause ulcers. Hand holding is a crucial thing to bring the client's confidence and trust but it is rather unfortunate that many firms relegate that task to fewer and fewer customers if at all.

Your disgruntled customer service specialist at your service. Smile

Posts: 43 · Full Forum Member Joined: Dec 27, 2006 Posts: 43

In case of Vonage, the problem is due to low morale and overworked first and second level Tech. The third level and their supervisors are busy writing up reports for managements and steering committees.

above comment by skydivenshort hits nail right on the head!!..If you know it, why doesn't Vonage management catch on to t his??

Posts: 2 · New Forum Member Joined: Sep 28, 2007 Posts: 2

Most support services are overloaded with calls and there is constant churn in personnel; but it's still no excuse for their poor customer service. They need to have techs properly trained and staff enough to handle the demand. Also, there is no accountability for their level of service. I've never received a customer service survey invitation from Vonage. They should be bonused on survey scores, not how many tickets they "close or resolve".

I work in support services too, and I would never treat my clients the way I was treated. Never.

In contrast:

I had the absolutely best experience in January with Linksys, when I set up my wireless router. Highly trained, very courteous (didn't speak over you), listened and solved my issue the first time.

A fluke? not likely. My router reset last week when moving office furniture and I had to call Linksys again. Guess what? Same great service.

They were obviously outsourced from India but they were top notch support and spoke very good english.

Posts: 134 · Vonage Forum Senior Joined: Mar 23, 2005 Posts: 134

skydivenshort is absolutely right. It's only about the call stats and it irks me like hell. At my company I was promoted out of customer service for a newly created position, or so I thought. Within a week of coming into this position they had me 'help out' with the phones because the stats were falling due to high volume,lack of reps, or both.

The kicker here is that I sometimes can go a somewhat long period without taking a calls. There is simply no way I can possibly retain everything and be kept up to date on changes because of the complexity of the customer service position, as well as, my own. Of course this doesn't stop the call police from tracking me down and throwing me on the phone. Next thing you know I am asked a question that I either don't know, or knew, but the answer has changed since I was in that position. I end up feeling completely embarrassed because I sound stupid when I'm grasping for answers. Also, I feel sorry for the customer when I wind up giving them misinformation that could possibly affect them financially. All of this in the name of making everything look good on paper. It's awful and absurd, and I apologize for anyone who had the displeasure of talking to me in the past year or so.